Lawmakers spent hours in session this week passing several dozen lingering bills, including the budget and property tax reform, before the first-half deadline Thursday.
The bill would create a commission of five Indiana and five Illinois designees who would be authorized to talk about Illinois ceding counties to Indiana.
Prominent allies believe Buttigieg cannot feasibly do both, even as others raise the comparison to Barack Obama, who was elected president just four years after becoming a U.S. senator.
Senate Bill 1, which previously carried Gov. Mike Braun’s ambitious property tax relief plan, was pared down significantly in committee following outcry from local government leaders.
Senate Republicans unanimously greenlit a bill imposing certain provisions to the Healthy Indiana Plan, including adding a cap to the program—meaning hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers could lose coverage.
The bill would reduce property taxes—and therefore reduce local government revenue—by about $1.4 billion over three years, according to the bill’s fiscal plan.
The Senate-approved tax bill would limit total growth in property tax revenue, which could reduce individual bills. But the Republican governor said the legislation lacks “meaningful tax cuts.”
The former vice president’s refusal to break with Trump defined their time together in office until the two had a falling out over Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.
A key lawmaker called the bill a response to ongoing resistance of local governments to greenlight solar, wind and other renewables projects that are necessary to support the state’s growing energy demands.
